Shinigami no Hanayame
by RiddikulusWaterbender
Summary: Rukia reads Ichigo an adventure story about Hitsugaya and Momo. My first "Bleach-ified" version of a movie. The story Rukia reads is an 'Alternate Universe' type of story. Features canon characters and a small amount of unimportant OCs.
1. Prologue

**Hello readers! I have a few words to say before the story starts. This story is highly AU, because some things do not happen in the canon at all. Some good guys will be on the bad side and vice versa. Some characters will be dead or die in the story, even if they don't really die in the manga. Also, some characters might not know characters that they actually **_**do**_** know in the manga, and vice versa. It all has to be this way for this story to work. :)**

**As for the title, I tried to find the best translation. If it sounds wrong or it doesn't make sense, please tell me and I will fix it- as well as any other thing mentioned in the story. Criticism will always be appreciated!**

**I'm done with all my talking. On with the story! (Please feel free to review, but I won't beg you to.)**

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Prologue

"Ichigo!"

It was two hours since the school day ended and the loud yell startled said boy who was lying on his bed. Rukia had slammed open the door so fiercely that it startled Ichigo into falling out of his bed. She had on her _shihakusho _and she held a book that looked like it was brand new.

"Wha- Rukia? Why are you here?"

"A new book came out in Soul Society!" She grinned and waved the book.

"So?"

"It was so great, I wanted to read it to you!" She walked in and closed the door behind her.

"What am I, a kid?" Ichigo said in an irritated tone. "Besides, I was doing something."

Rukia sighed and folded her arms.

"Fine. I'll shorten it for you in drawing!" She pulled out her drawing notebook and flipped through the pages for a clean paper.

"_Oi_! Don't bother, it'll only make it more confusing!" Rukia stopped and snapped her head up towards Ichigo.

"So you'll let me read it?"

Ichigo thought things over.

"Ahh...no." Rukia's eyebrows furrowed and she stomped over to him.

"What gives, Ichigo? ! I come all the way from Soul Society to read you this book and you say 'no'?" She grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled his face near hers. "I will not leave until you hear this story!"

She threw him face-down on the bed and pointed her index and middle finger at him.

"Rukia- what are you-!"

"_Bakudō no Ichi, Sai!_" At once Ichigo's arms flew behind his back and he shouted in surprise as Rukia triumphantly folded her arms.

"Aargh! Take this off!" Ichigo yelled while struggling.

"No can do!" Rukia said. "And before you break it like last time..." She smirked and sat on his back and arms, making it harder for him to move. "You'll have to hurt me to break free, and you wouldn't want to do that, would you?"

"You little-"

"Good!" She opened the book and turned to the first page. "Just wait, Ichigo, you'll enjoy this!"

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**Ok, so that was a short prologue, but I hope I've captured your attention, and if I didn't, I'll try to do so in the next chapter. The next chapter is where the real story begins. It might be a while until I upload the next chapter. I won't be uploading chapters on a fixed schedule, they will be made randomly. Since I already have the second chapter written down, I might upload it faster.**

**Also, I want you guys to guess what movie I'm basing this story after. This story won't be exactly like the movie, but it will have a similar plot line and the characters will be based on the characters in the movie. Plus, I think it will already be obvious what this story is based off of since you read the prologue. -_-**

**The one who guesses it right will have the pleasure of winning! Have fun guessing! :P**


	2. Hitsugaya's Mission

**Hello again! The first Chapter is here! Just so you won't get confused, the italics are used for the words Rukia is reading from the book. This has slight spoilers about Hitsugaya's past, so yeah. You were warned.**

**Oh yeah, the italics part also passes by quickly. I didn't really go into that much detail, just so you know.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Hitsugaya's Mission  
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"Ok!" Rukia said excitedly. She put her finger on the first paragraph and started to read.

_Once there was a family of three living in District 1, Junrinan. There was a girl, a younger boy, and their grandmother living in a nice small home. The girl, named Momo, passed the entrance exam to Shinō Academy and trained to become a shinigami, leaving the boy, Tōshirō, and the grandmother behind. Tōshiro pretended to be happy to see her go, but inside, he knew he would really miss her._

_He didn't really tell anyone about it, but Tōshirō was frequently having dreams about an echoing voice calling out to him. Thinking that it was only a dream and nothing else, he kept quiet about it. What he didn't know was that while he slept, his reiatsu leaked out and was freezing his grandma. As a result, she got skinnier._

_Then one day he went to a shop and he met a weird lady with strawberry-blonde hair and big boobs. She turned out to be the one who eventually convinced him to train to be a shinigami. Tōshirō left home and went to Shinō Academy. _

_In Tōshirō's first year at the academy, Momo walked with him and helped him find his classes. Every time she showed him something new, she would always say the same thing at the end. For example: "This is the Kidō classroom! Isn't it cool, Shirō-chan?"_

_Then Tōshirō would always say the same thing to her: "Don't call me that, bed-wetter!" But what he was truly saying was: "I love you, Momo." He loved her like a sister. Nothing more, nothing less._

_Tōshirō soon excelled Momo, graduating in only a year with the highest grades in every class. By working hard, both of them managed to get a spot on the Gotei 13._

_Long story short; due to his great skills, Tōshirō became captain of the 10th division. Because of her hard work, Momo became lieutenant in the 5th division. But a few years later, when Tōshirō was already used to being captain, he was chosen to go on a mission..._

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Momo merrily skipped toward the 10th Division office, eager to see Hitsugaya. She was done with her work at the 5th Division, and she had a short break before getting more work. She peeked around the door to Hitsugaya's office and saw him working on papers at his desk.

She opened the door wider and walked in.

"Hi, Hitsugaya-kun!"

"It's Hitsugaya-taichō." He replied wearily, not taking his eyes from his papers. Momo had already walked up to the front of his desk and was glanced at the nearly finished papers. Then she noticed that he had his zanpakutō strapped to his back. Why though? He wasn't off to a mission, was he?

"Are you going somewhere?" she asked curiously.

"Yes," Hitsugaya continued writing as he answered the question. "I was chosen to go on a mission in the World of the Living. A rogue shinigami by the name of Zaraki Kenpachi is terrorizing the people there. He was so tired of not having anyone worthwhile to fight, he 'ditched'. I guess he thought it was too peaceful here." He sighed. "What an idiot." He looked up from his papers to see Momo's worried face. She had a hand covering her mouth and she was looking down at her desk, her lower lip slightly trembling. He let out a soft sigh and went back to writing the last part of his paperwork.

"Why do you look so upset, Hinamori?"

"Hitsugaya-kun," she said. "Wasn't he the captain of the 11th division? That must mean he's _really_ strong!"

"He may be strong, but he's not the smartest person in the world. The shinigami in the 11th division all have the brains of a bird." Momo agreed with what he said. Even if Hitsugaya is weaker, he can still win by outsmarting Kenpachi.

"I guess..." Momo murmured. "When are you leaving?"

"Right now." Wow, that was sudden. Momo's eyes widened as he put his brush down and got up from his seat. He stretched, and then he put his papers in a pile on his desk. He casually walked around Momo and towards the door. Momo followed.

"W-what? But Shiro-chan-"

"Geez, bed-wetter!" Hitsugaya stopped and rolled his eyes. He folded his arms and looked away with a somewhat annoyed expression. "I can take care of myself. Besides, didn't I tell you not to call me that?" He looked back at her with a hint of a smile on his face. "I know you're worried, but I won't die." And with that, he turned around and left the office, leaving Momo alone in the room.

Momo looked at the door where Hitsugaya had just gone through. She was still worried, of course. How could she not be? He was going to attempt to bring down _Zaraki Kenpachi_, the strongest of the 11th division, the division that focused solely _zanjutsu_. Sure Hitsugaya was a captain too, and he would probably hold his own against Kenpachi, but she still worried that something might happen that will result in his death. She didn't want him to go, but she couldn't do anything about it. All she could do was hope for the best.

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**Please tell me if I'm getting the characters' personalities wrong. I want this story to be as 'in character' as I can make it. Criticism will always be appreciated!**

**Chapters won't stick with a certain length. I'm hoping to make them longer in the future. That's all for now! :D  
**


	3. The Dreaded News

**Hello again! Sorry for not updating soon enough. I finally finished the second chapter! I worked through the second half of my exam yesterday since everyone was done with theirs, but I didn't get much done because some annoying girls decided to sing very loudly, completely oblivious to the fact that people, like me, need to concentrate on their work! So annoying. I appreciate chorus people, don't get me wrong, but those girls need to realize that people are concentrating, and their singing can be **_**very**_** distracting. Plus, the song sounded like 'cream-raisin-apple-pie'. Just sayin'.**

**I've managed to make this chapter about twice as long as the previous. Thanks CodenameOokami for the critique! I tried doing what you said.**

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**The Dreaded News**

"Hehe, there's no way he'll win against Kenpachi." Ichigo said smugly, still in the uncomfortable position on his bed. Rukia smirked at him.

"Are you telling me you're interested, Ichigo?" Ichigo frowned at her.

"This story sucks! Why would I be interested?"

"This is only the beginning. Give it a chance!"

"Like I have a choice." Ichigo grumbled.

Rukia immediately started the next chapter, ignoring Ichigo's sigh of protest.

_It had been several months since Hitsugaya's trip to the World of the Living. Momo hadn't heard any news from him since their last conversation. Of course, this made her very close to having a nervous breakdown. Then everything went worse when fukutaich_ō _Abarai Renji gave her the worst possible news she could get..._

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Momo couldn't do anything, even if she wanted to. She remembered seeing him off, watching him step through the Senkaimon, the Hell Butterfly flapping ahead of him. He had looked back at her as the Senkaimon closed, silently telling her not to worry and that he will most _definitely_ come back.

Ever since, she had been constantly worrying about about her little 'Shirō-chan'. She tried to distract herself by doing all the work she could do in her division. She had a lot to do ever since Aizen betrayed them and left. It was sort of depressing to now have two things to constantly worry about. She was already upset about the whole 'Aizen is evil' thing. To add 'Shiro-chan might die' to the list was probably more than she could handle. She wasn't really a strong enough person to successfully hold in all her emotions without breaking down.

The days of Hitsugaya's absence were increasing. Every passing day would make Momo even more anxious and distressed. She would sometimes get so depressed that she would spend half an hour crying in her office, saddened and frustrated that she couldn't do anything to protect Hitsugaya. All the other Shinigami didn't want to bother her, in fear of making her even more upset.

Hitsugaya was supposed to stay in contact with the Gotei 13, but so far they didn't hear anything from him. He was told that if no one heard from him in a week, shinigami would be sent to look for him. Soon Yamamoto sent a large team of shinigami to go to the Human World to look for the missing captain.

Weeks have passed, months. There was still no news of Hitsugaya. The other Shinigami were whispering about it. Momo had noticed how they fell silent every time she was near enough to hear them. Even though it's been too long, she still hoped that nothing had happened to Hitsugaya. Perhaps the other shinigami thought something did happen to him, and a very small part of Momo thought so too. Every time she wondered if something did _indeed_ happen to Hitsugaya, she fiercely shook her head to get rid of the horrible thoughts, tears glittering on her eyelashes. She refused to give up hope.

Five months after Hitsugaya's departure, Momo was in her office sitting at a table with her head tucked in her arms. She was staring out the window. Because of her desperate need of a distraction, she had completed all of her paperwork and exhausted herself with helping other shinigami in her division with their tasks.

The sun was just starting to set, making the sky look slightly yellow. Momo had been sitting there for a while deep in thought.

_I haven't heard from Shir_ō_-chan for a long time._ Momo thought to herself. _But shouldn't he be back by now? Even if he had trouble, he would at least alert Sōtaichō._

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door. Momo blinked and looked up, straightening herself as she did so.

"Come in." she said, loud enough for the person outside to hear. The door opened and Renji stepped inside. Momo started to smile when she saw her friend, but stopped when she saw his expression. Something was obviously troubling him. He awkwardly closed the door behind him.

"What's wrong, Abarai-kun?" A few seconds quietly ticked by. Momo tilted her head slightly to one side, confused about his silence.

"It's about Hitsugaya-taichō."

Momo drew in a quick breath. Could he be back? But no, he couldn't possibly be. Renji wouldn't be this way if Hitsugaya did come back. Could that mean that something bad happened to Hitsugaya?

"W-what is it?" she asked softly, stuttering slightly.

It looked like Renji was thinking hard about the right way to say something. Then a look of defeat took over as if he was just going to get to the point.

"Hitsugaya-taichō is dead."

Suddenly it became very hard for Momo to breathe. Her eyes widened in absolute terror and her hands shook as she took in what Renji said.

"_N-nani_?" she whispered. Renji went on, not looking too happy about what he was going to say.

"Multiple shinigami checked all over the Human World. They didn't catch his reiatsu anywhere. He was supposed to contact us every week, but we haven't heard from him in five months. Er, we were told that if he didn't contact us then it would be safe to say he is dead."

Momo was now taking in quick sharp breaths and shaking her head, stricken with grief.

"No," she gasped. "I won't believe it!"

"Hinamori-"

"How can you go by that alone? !"

Momo had snapped up from her seat and pushed the chair slightly away from below her. Her face was a mixture of pain and distress. Silence followed after this outburst, except for Momo's quick and uneven breathing. She didn't look like she was about to go on a large rampage, but rather like she was about to cry.

"What?" Renji asked, dumbfounded.

"How? _How_ can you simply _assume_ that he's dead? !" Tears started to bulge from her eyes. "For all we know he could just be in trouble or something!"

Renji thought about saying 'for five whole months?' but decided to keep quiet. He looked down at the ground, avoiding her gaze. Momo was sniffling and repeatedly wiping the tears now cascading down her face.

"Maybe Kenpachi captured him and is holding him hostage," she continued.

This was not possible, but Renji decided not to tell her that either. Kenpachi would rather challenge Hitsugaya to a fight, since he considers it weak to take people hostage.

"Or maybe he's in a place where his reiatsu is blocked!"

_Where in the Human World will that be? Would there even be a place that can block reiatsu there?_ Renji thought.

"Or maybe he's still fighting Kenpachi, and so he doesn't have time to contact us!"

But then his reiatsu would be flaring, which will alert the shinigami in the Human World. Also, a fight with Kenpachi can't be five months long. One of them would have to be defeated long before five months pass by. Plus, it was likely that Hitsugaya would tire out first since Kenpachi could go on for days without fatigue.

Still, it was no use trying to tell Momo these. She would only try to find another reason as to why Hitsugaya _can't_ be dead. She was unable to accept the truth, but that was because she simply refuses to believe what she doesn't want to hear. That will be her downfall one day, if it wasn't already. It was just like what happened when Aizen revealed his evil intentions of taking over Soul Society.

Momo was desperately clutching the sleeves of her shihakusho and trembling. By the look of her face, she didn't look like even _she_ believed in what she was saying. She seemed to be on the verge of hysterics. She looked so helpless and pitiful that Renji suddenly felt like he was intruding on something. Momo stumbled over to the table and collapsed in the chair, putting her face in her arms. Renji reluctantly spoke.

"Uh, do you want me to leave?" Momo nodded her head in her arms. Renji slowly made his way to the door and, with a backwards glance at Momo, left the room.

With quivering hands she put her clenched fists over her shut eyes, struggling to believe what was true and what was not. Hitsugaya couldn't simply die on a mission. That was hard to believe. But Kenpachi did turn against Soul Society, so wouldn't that make him Hitsugaya's enemy? It was possible that Hitsugaya would be overpowered by Kenpachi- very possible- but Hitsugaya did have his wits. And he had a wider variety of attacks to use against Kenpachi. He knew shikai and bankai, he could use kidō, and he could use shunpo. But he didn't contact anyone in Soul Society, even though he was told to. Maybe he was still fighting? But five months of constant fighting would not be possible. One of them would get tired. It was all very confusing to Momo. Conflicting outcomes popped up in her head as she struggled to think of ways Hitsugaya could still be alive.

Why did he even go on the mission anyway? Couldn't Yamamoto just send someone else instead? That sounded selfish and unlike her, but she didn't care. She didn't care if another captain took Hitsugaya's place and died in his place. Hitsugaya was her best friend. He couldn't die and leave her alone here.

Yamamoto. His name repeatedly rang in her head. He was the one who chose Hitsugaya for the mission, so he was the one to blame. She felt such bitter hatred for the sōtaichō that it surprised even herself. He practically caused Hitsugaya's death, and for that, she hated him.

But alas, there was nothing she could do about it. Again. She knew better than to challenge Yamamoto. This was very frustrating for Momo because she knew if she ever did, she would instantly be burned into ashes.

However, she couldn't stay mad at Yamamoto for long. It wasn't like sōtaichō knew Hitsugaya would die. It was, after all, a shinigami's job to keep peace in Soul Society and the Human World. Hitsugaya wasn't any different.

_There's nothing I can do._

She and Hitsugaya had promised to protect each other a long time ago. So much for that promise. Was she really that useless and unable to help him? Fresh tears streamed down her face like a rapid flowing river.

Grabbing a fistful of hair in each hand, she sobbed her heart out for her lost friend.

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**Blegh. I'm not good at things like grief over a dead person, so I'm not really too happy about how I wrote this. I had a freakishly hard time deciding how Momo would react to Hitsugaya's death. Plus, I was stuck for a while because of the reason mentioned before the chapter.**

**Oh well. On to the next chapter! Please tell me how I did!**


	4. Fatal Injury

**This part is not in the movie, but it is significant to this story and it helps me find a way to put the story together. There are going to be 2 OCs, but they are so unimportant that I didn't even give them names, so don't worry if you hate OCs.  
**

**I have now decided to rate this story T. Only for the violence, since I want to add major injuries later on on.**

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**A Fatal Injury**

It was around six PM, and the brilliant setting sun made the sky turn orange. A cloaked figure stood silently on top of an abandoned building in a small town. It was windy. The wind blew at the cloak, gently trying to tug it off the owner. The figure itself was clearly visible from the ground, but no human seemed to notice it. Even if someone had looked on top of the building where the figure stood, their eyes would simply pass over it, as if it was invisible.

The figure was faced towards two other people in the distance, as if it was watching them. The two people were also on a rooftop, but in a position where they couldn't see the cloaked figure. It was a man and woman who looked like they were either fifteen or sixteen. The male had short brown hair that was neatly combed back, and the female had shoulder-length black hair that was tied up in a ponytail. They were both wearing a standard shihakusho and were carrying their zanpakutō, which signified that they were shinigami and that they were probably decades older than they looked. It seemed like they were keeping watch over the town and were looking out for hollows.

The male shinigami had flipped open his denreishinki**(1) **and the female shinigami was curiously peeking over his shoulder. They exchanged words and nodded before they both jumped over the rooftops to reach their new destination. The cloaked figure followed.

The two shinigami stopped near a small playground where a small amount of human children were playing. Parents sat in the benches nearby watching their children laughing and playing with their friends. The swings were deserted, or at least it looked that way to a normal human. If a regular human saw the swings, they would wonder why one of the three swings were swinging back and forth all by itself. If one had spiritual power, however, they would see two small children sulking by the swing set.

They were pluses. They looked like siblings, a sister and her younger brother. They both had brown eyes, brown hair, and the same facial features. The siblings were looking mournfully at the ground as the girl half-heartedly pushed her brother on the swing.

The figure stopped behind a tree at a safe distance, ignoring the living children and focusing entirely on the spiritual beings.

The two shinigami slowly walked up to the pluses, causing them to jump. The little girl stopped pushing the swing and they froze, looking fixedly at the two shinigami. The shinigami stopped when they were a few yards away. The cloaked figure stayed behind the tree where he could hear the conversation.

"Um, hello," the male shinigami said awkwardly. The male plus leaped from the swings and hid behind his sister. He seemed to be crying, the shinigami could hear his sad whimpers. The girl looked close to tears herself and she put a protective arm in front of her brother. She was eyeing the sheathed zanpakutō.

"Who are you?" she asked, looking directly into their eyes.

The shinigami glanced at each other and the young woman nodded at her partner.

"We are shinigami," she said, looking like she wasn't sure what to say next. "We came here to give you two a soul burial."

The male shinigami pulled out his zanpakutō and the two children let out small noises of fright. The older plus grabbed her little brother's tiny hand and ran towards the slides.

"Wait!" the female yelled after them. She sighed and turned to her partner. "We were told not to scare them. You shouldn't have pulled out your katana yet."

The male shinigami looked at the children, seeing how afraid they were, and sheathed his sword.

"My bad," he said sheepishly. He casually leaned backward with his arms behind his head. "Now how are we going to get them to trust us?" he continued with a somewhat annoyed look on his face.

"It's your fault," his partner said, folding her arms and giving him an irritated look. "Scaring them away makes it harder for us. Thanks a lot."

The male was about to reply when his denreishinki started to beep. Startled, the shinigami looked at the device.

"A hollow is approaching this area."

The shinigami looked at each other, and then at the two small children cowering behind the slide. The male shinigami then waved to the children.

"If you don't want your souls to be devoured, you might as well stay there." he said cheerfully. His partner smacked him upside the head as the children burst into tears.

"Stop scaring them! What am I going to _do_ with you?" she scolded him. The male shinigami pouted and mumbled incoherently as he massaged his head.

At that moment there was a horrible roar. The two shinigami whipped around to see a giant hollow. Its body was similar to an arachnid, but instead of eight hairy legs, each leg had a steel-hard shell. The mask covered all of its face, except for the ear area, where two large tusks erupted from. The hollow towered over them all like an enormous building.

"Man, that hollow's huge!" the male shinigami yelled, unsheathing his zanpakutō. His partner gulped.

"C'mon," the female shinigami said, following suit. "This is our first mission. Let's try not to mess this up."

The hollow let out another howl and skittered towards them, fast. The shinigami prepared themselves and then leaped out of the way before the hollow could get to them. The hollow crashed into the swing set, crushing and destroying it. Nearby people stopped and looked at the swing set, only seeing the swing set mysteriously crash down as if crushed by an invisible force. Then they started running. Soon the air was filled with screams from the humans as they ran for cover. The children who were playing in the playground ran screaming to their parents. Their parents scooped them into their arms and ran off.

The shinigami landed on opposite sides of the hollow and leaped in to attack. The female shinigami swung her zanpakutō forcefully at one of the legs while the male went for the head. The blades sank deeply into the shell and the mask, but didn't cut all the way through. They were stuck and the shinigami couldn't pull them out. The hollow let out a roar louder than the ones before and shook its head, trying to get the shinigami off. It got back to its feet in a jolt and the two shinigami tried to hold on to their katanas as they were lifted off their feet.

With a mighty swing of the head, the shinigami lost their hold on their katanas and were thrown into the air. They let out grunts of pain as they landed on their backs. The cloaked person crouched slightly, as if preparing to move, and watched on.

The two shinigami clumsily got back to their feet. The female clenched her teeth as she tried to figure out a way to get back their katanas. How they were supposed to fight a gigantic hollow was beyond her. This was their first mission, and they weren't even seated officers yet. Surely they wouldn't be assigned to defeat a gigantic hollow on their first mission. Would they?

She had no more time to think, the hollow was quickly closing in on them. With a great sweep of one of its steel-hard legs, it swept both the shinigami a few yards away. Again, they landed hard on the ground. A sticky, web-like substance shot out from the hollow's tusks. The shinigami couldn't move out of the way in time, since they were winded by the hollow's attack. They could only watch as the thin webs flew towards them.

The webs slammed into them with a large amount of force. They yelped as the webs glued them to the ground. Struggling against the webs, the shinigami watched fearfully as the hollow took its time creeping over for the kill. Its great shadow fell over them and darkness loomed over them, making it almost as dark as night.

The shadow seemed to trigger something in the webs, because the webs started to glow with red light. As the light grew brighter, they grew hotter. The trapped shinigami could feel the heat slowly growing and they struggled harder than ever to escape before it reached unbearably hot. They tried using some kidō to blast off the webs, but it was all in vain. In fact, the more they tried to escape, the faster the heat increased.

The webs were now reaching the point where it was unbearably hot. The shinigami let out cries of pain and surprise as they managed to look down at their skin beneath the webs. They were shocked to see their skin blistering and melting under the scorching hot webs. The webs still increased in heat and now the shinigami were screaming bloody murder, begging in their heads for it to stop. It felt like they were bathing in fire. It was agony, so white-hot that death somehow seemed much better than this torture.

Actually, death seemed to be coming for them, and it felt like it wouldn't take long. There seemed to be no way out of this mess. No other shinigami was there to help them, and the pluses were completely useless in this situation. The pluses could only turn their heads away, knowing they couldn't help the people who were trying to save them.

The cloaked person who had been watching the whole scene suddenly leapt into the air and appeared between the hollow and the shinigami. A quick slash of a katana and the shinigami were freed. Before they could see who it was under the cloak, the mysterious savior flash-stepped into the air. Raising his or her katana, the cloaked person said a command that the shinigami couldn't hear.

The katana straightened up and lost its curve. At the end, the katana grew longer but made two right angles, making it look sort of like a long hook with no curves. The sharp end of the katana's blades was on the inside of the hook.

Wait, they knew that shikai. Sure they weren't in the same division as the guy, but older members of the same division as them had told them about this person. It had to be Kira-fukutaichō!

Sure enough, as the cloaked person flew through the air, the hood fell off his face to reveal the gloomy face of the third division's fukutaichō.

The unseated shinigami struggled to sit up, but could only hiss in pain as the burns stung. The pain seemed to be dying away, and they could at least watch what was going on.

Kira flew towards the hollow and, as the hollow raised a leg to knock him away, gave the hollow a series of swipes at the raised limb. The leg shook for a few seconds, and then smashed to the ground making a crater.

Kira landed on the ground and calmly looked up at the hollow. The hollow lifted another leg and prepared to smash it into Kira. Kira raised his katana calmly.

"Obviously, you didn't learn from the last attack." he said before slashing at the leg a couple of times. Again, the leg smashed into the ground.

The hollow blew out the web-like substance from its tusks, but Kira easily dodged them. Leaping at its head, Kira sliced off both of the tusks, causing the hollow to wail in pain. Kira then used shunpo to appear behind the hollow's head. With one big slash, the head was cut clean in two. There was the usual hollow roar and the hollow dissolved.

Kira turned around and walked over to the two unseated shinigami. When he kneeled down in front of them, they turned their heads toward him.

"Kira-fukutaichō?" the male shinigami whispered. Kira immediately spread his hands over the burns and his palms glowed with green energy.

"I'll heal you in a minute." The pain was ebbing away faster as the burns healed up. When he was done, there were still signs of the injuries. Ugly scars marked all over where the skin was burned, and they would probably stay there for the rest of their lives.

Kira pushed himself to his feet and helped the other two up. The two were clumsily pulled up to their feet. Kira noticed the leftover scars, and he looked even more gloomy than before.

"Sorry I couldn't fix the scars... Maybe Unohana-taichō can fix them when we get back."

"It's ok, fukutaichō," the female shinigami said while bowing low. Her partner did the same. "As long as we're healed, it doesn't matter if they stay or not. Arigatō gozaimasu." She slowly raised her head and gave Kira a confused look. "Um, not to be rude or anything, but why are you here?"

Kira looked down somewhat sheepishly. "Well, it's mainly because of the Shinigami Men's Association. No one would let us use their rooms for our meetings, so Iba-san sent me to the Human World to find a good place."

He let out a small embarrassed chuckle and looked up to see both of the shinigami giving him blank looks.

"Then my phone started alerting me about a hollow so I came to help." He rubbed the back of his head. "Iba-san should just give up." he muttered. "Well, I'm quite glad to do this instead. Hopefully he'll send someone else next time."

The girl and boy exchanged glances. Then the female shinigami looked over at the two pluses. The two pluses were staring at the small group of shinigami, but they didn't seem to be as afraid of them as before. Kira followed the shinigami's gaze.

"You two can perform the konsō**(2)** since this is your mission." Kira said.

The two shinigami looked at Kira and nodded. Then they carefully walked over to the pluses while Kira watched from behind. This time the pluses didn't run away. The male shinigami thought of the best way to convince the small children that they were only going to send them to Soul Society. He figured the best way to do that was to tell the truth, make it so they know it won't be dangerous, and don't be so blunt about it like he was before.

"Hello, are you kids okay?"

The children nodded shyly.

"Good. I'm about to perform a konsō on you. Do you know what that is?"

The children shook their heads.

"It's a technique that shinigami use to send people like you two to a cool place called Soul Society."

The female shinigami smiled as she listened to her partner's attempt to gain the pluses' trust. It seemed to be working.

"What I do is take out my zanpakutō and give you a small tap on the head with the bottom part. It's not as bad as you think it is. It won't even cut you and it won't hurt at all." He patted his sheathed katana, making sure not to bring it out and scare the children. The children relaxed slightly.

"Are you ready to go?"

The pluses nodded. They were still slightly wary, but they wanted to get away from this place as soon as possible before another monster shows up. The two shinigami took out their zanpakutō and turned them so the blades were facing away from the children. Once they were tapped on the head, the pluses were bathed in blue light. They closed their eyes as they sank through the ground and soon two Hell Butterflies flew up from where they stood seconds before.

The two shinigami smiled as they sheathed their katanas. Kira walked over to them.

"Are you done?" he asked

The two shinigami nodded and turned around to face Kira. That was when the air had started to move oddly behind Kira, as if it was disturbed somehow. It was blurry to look at. Kira sensed the sudden change in the atmosphere and started to turn around.

A horn-like object pierced through his chest. Blood splattered all over the ground, some catching on to the other shinigami's clothes. Everything went silent. There was no wind, no birds chirping, and no creak of the swings. The only sound the two shinigami could hear was the blood splashing on the grass as Kira fell to his knees.

The thing piercing straight through Kira came from the hollow that was just defeated a while ago. It had used one of its legs to impale him. The unseated shinigami were stunned. Didn't Kira-fukutaichō just defeat the hollow? The hollow dissolved and everything. Or were there more of the same hollow?

The fukutaichō's shaking hands gripped his zanpakutō and swung his katana down behind him, cutting off the leg. The leg dissolved in the air so the blood flowed freely from the wound. He slowly struggled back up to his feet, using his zanpakutō for support.

"_Hado no gojū-yon: Haien."_ Purple spiritual energy blasted out of his hand and hit the hollow in the face. At once flames erupted all over the hollow's face and the hollow disintegrated. Kira fell down to his knees once again and was threatening to fall over as the two other shinigami rushed to his aid. They were too late; he had already fallen forward by the time they reached him. The sand slowly started to turn red as his blood spread.

The unseated male shinigami carefully turned Kira over on his back. He gingerly examined the hole in Kira's chest while the female shinigami pulled up one of Kira's eyelids with shaking fingers. He was unconscious. Her eyes widened and she turned to her partner.

"W-what do we do? !" she whispered. "This isn't supposed to happen on our first mission!" She was frightened of the fact that one mess up could mean death for the third division's lieutenant. She tried to calm herself down, pushing her fists between her knees to keep them from trembling. Her partner watched her uncertainly.

After letting out a few shaky breaths, she calmed down a little.

"I he... dead?"

It was unlikely. It took a lot more than that to kill a shinigami. But if the hollow's leg pierced through Kira's heart, Kira would most likely die. The male shinigami put his head close to Kira's mouth. He could hear soft breathing. They were uneven, but at least his breathing signified that Kira was still alive. He relaxed slightly.

"No, he's still breathing." he said to his partner. She let out a sigh of relief, but she was still shaking. "I don't know what we should do. Should we send for other shinigami-?"

His partner nodded. "Yes, that seems like the best thing to do."

He pulled out his Denreishinki and contacted Soul Society while the female shinigami tried to heal Kira with kidō as much as she could. It didn't take long until a Senkaimon appeared and other shinigami came to help them.

* * *

**(1): Denreishinki: **_**Divine Messenger Machine**_**. In other words, the cellphone-like thingy that shinigami use to contact Soul Society while in the Human World. They are also used to track down hollows and can detect other shinigami.**

**(2): Konsō: Soul Burial**

**A/N: Phew, this chapter was sooo embarrassing before I re-did it. -_- I personally think this version is better. I hope you feel the same way!  
**

**Please review if you can. Even if it is to tell me this story sucks. I just need to know if this story is as good as I hope it to be, and if not, how bad it really is. :)  
**


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